Visually impaired ballplayers face off in Sudbury

Friday

Local ballplayers who are visually impaired or blind faced off yesterday in a game of "beep-ball."

J.J. "Dy-no-mite!" Ward is so good, he can play the game blindfolded.

But those are the rules in the version of baseball played yesterday afternoon at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

"The game's called 'beep-ball,' " Ward, of Lincoln, said as he took practice swings in the on-deck circle. "They call me 'Dy-no-mite' because I'm kind of explosive."

Ward, his Boston Renegade teammates, and members of an opposing team hailing from Long Island are visually impaired. Yesterday they joined the Pennsylvania Wolfpack and the New Jersey Lightning in a tournament to determine the "Beast of the East."

Beep-ball has its own set of rules. For example, there is no second base. Runners only go toward first or third, and a series of beeps is how they know where the ball and bases are.

"Batters hear the beeping of the baseball," coach Jason Lenicheck of Acton explained. "The beeping at third and first base is at a different pitch of sound."

The pitch comes in, beeping, and once a batter makes contact with it, a tone sounds off at one of the two bases. The batter must reach whichever base is beeping before a fielder stops the ball.

The bases are human-sized blue cushions. Players like Ward barrel into them at full-speed as if they were tackling dummies, trying to beat out a stopped ball.

A batted ball must travel at least 40 feet to be considered fair. When a batter touches a cushion before the ball is stopped by a fielder, he scores a run.

Ward's at-bat resulted in an out as a Long Island Bomber scooped up the ball less than a second before Duggan reached the base.

"I tomahawked it," Ward yelled to his teammates, adding several unprintable words for good measure.

But then teammate Larry "L-Train" Haile, of Boston, stepped up and cracked an underhanded pitch through the middle of the infield to score.

"He's tall, but he's all leverage and no muscles," Ward joked.

Players who are visually impaired, like Haile and Duggan, are required to wear blindfolds to level the playing field. Other players like Joey O'Neill - who are completely blind - think it's funny that they're required to wear the blindfolds too.

"Both my eyes are prosthetics," said O'Neill, of Lowell. "If I started seeing out of these, then that really would be funny."

Ward, who graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury in 1988, wrestled while he was in high school. Lenicheck said there are several other players on the team with experience in sports.

"But some other guys who are 100 percent blind never had a chance to compete in sports," Lenicheck said. "When they discovered the game of beep-ball, it was like opening a new door for them."

The Boston Renegades, who began play in 2001, are linked to the Holbrook-based nonprofit Association of Blind Citizens. Lenicheck said they've played games all over the country.

"It's incredible for these guys to leave their comfort space and go on the road," he said. "As coaches we want to win just as much as they do."

Coaches are integral to the game. Lenicheck said communication between the pitcher, who can see, and the batter is crucial.

"The pitchers are coaches too," he said. "It's all about timing."

Pitchers - who deliver the ball 20 feet from the batter - are obligated to verbalize two words - "ready," which is said just before releasing the ball, and "pitch," which is announced right as the ball is being released.

Coaches are also in the field, but the only communication they can have is saying numbers to tell where the ball is going.

A second baseman is known as playing the No. 3 position in beep-ball. To his left is No. 1, and to his right, No. 2.

"The tone of our voices also has to mimic the way the ball is carrying," Lenicheck said. "A pop-up is a 'twooooo' while a hard ground ball would be a quick 'two!' "

Yesterday, the Renegades won all three of their games by a combined score of 34-4, beating Pennsylvania 8-1, shutting out New Jersey 13-0 and finishing the day with a win over Long Island 13-3. On Aug. 3 they will head to Rochester, N.Y., to compete in the World Series.

The Renegades have never won the big one, but Ward said he likes their chances this year.

"Inside the lines, every one of us is a competitor," he said. "But after the game, no matter what team we're on, we're all best friends."

(Evan Lips can be reached at 508-490-7461 or elips@cnc.com.)

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